Converted aquarium cage

[Emma]

I spent this morning out in gorgeous bank holiday friday sunshine converting a manky old algae-covered tank from my Dad's attic into this for the roborovskis:







It took a while to clean it all up properly. I was going to just make a lid but then I got a bit carried away and made a shelf from an unused cork floor tile - I wouldn't consider this for most hamsters, but my two robos have been very uninterested in chewing anything apart from their food, so I think it stands a good chance of surviving. All the wood I've used is untreated and has been sanded and scrubbed.



I've made a sling for the water bottle from a strip of mesh, just need to sand down a few sharp edges on that now, and go back up into the attic to find a ladder from a very old hamster cage that's up there, so the boys can get up to the shelf, and voila. It only cost me a £1 for the mesh, everything else we had.



The idea is to give them much more room to dig in - I'll be putting in a lot of shavings on the bottom layer. As to how big it is - it's 2ft long, I don't know what that is in gallons, my Dad said that US and UK gallons are different too so even if we worked it out from his fish books, it wouldn't be the same as what you would call it over there!

[SnuggleHam]

Cool I was wondering how the Roborovskis would ever make it to that top level I guess you will give them a really deep litter layer. My Roborovskis have a hard enough time climbing into their ceramic food bowl

I can't wait to see picture of it all set up with Pippin and Merry in it!

[katie92]

me too!!! Its going too look great good idea em xxx

[babyboos]

Not sure about the cork tile, but as you say your Merry and Pippin are not great chewers, a bit like mine in that regard. Keep an eye on it - it may get soiled and need replacement at some point and you could consider using some other substance, even just a large piece of cardboard like an empty cereal packet or something - depends what you are going to balance on it

Really look forward to seeing it all assembled - and how successful the wire water bottle holder is. Will you put it inside the loop of wire so the spout sticks out? Great idea - I may copy that if you dont mind I am thinking to stop needing to file edges I will just build a tube of the mesh and have the join at the back of the enclosure so they cannot get to the edges...

I currently use a hanging waterbottle - it is just like the regular ball bearing ones you see - made by Classic - but it has a hook on the top of the bottle which you can then dangle from the roof.

[Emma]

Originally Posted by babyboos

Really look forward to seeing it all assembled - and how successful the wire water bottle holder is. Will you put it inside the loop of wire so the spout sticks out?

That was the idea but the masterplan failed - the spout is too big to fit through the mesh! I've seen it done on tank cages before, but must be with bigger mesh. I chose the finest mesh I could get for this.



Not sure how to solve the water bottle problem - a few ideas are velcro, a sucker, or a fabric sling. I haven't seen any kind of water bottle with hooks for tanks, I've been keeping an eye out in pet shops for a while now. *sigh*



Yeah the cork tile was just what we had when I thought of making a shelf - I'd have preferred something like plastic or hardboard, I think the cork might just soak everything up (lovely!) but shall have to see.



I'll be setting it up when we get back to Bristol tomorrow - probably won't have a camera for a while though unfortunately.

[babyboos]

Could you use wire snips to make the hole bigger Although sharp edges would be a concern You can get a hanging Classic Hamster Bottle for just over £1 with free delivery from Lamp-Post

These are the exact same bottles I use for my Roborovski and Winter White Russian Dwarf Hamsters.

[amnerisryn]

Wow! That's huge! Actually it looks about the size of the container my sister used to keep her iguana, and then her snake (but not together at the same time) in. Talk about a domestic upgrade! :P Very awesome! I can't wait to see how you develop it.

[Emma]

It's not that huge, it's a two-footer - but then the roborovskis aren't huge either!



It's now all set up but I don't have a camera with me now so unfortunately can't show you.



Basically under the shelf there's a good 4 inches of shavings for them to dig around in, they've made a nest somewhere under there I think (well at least they disappear under there!).



The other half is their wheel and some wooden tunnel/bridge toys, and the water bottle hanging from the roof in a complicated string contraptioni my boyfriend came up with as a temporary measure.



There's now a ladder up to the shelf, which they are using, up there is their food bowl, some cardboard tubes and some of that crittertrail puzzle playground.



They did have a sandbath in there, but as usual Merry promptly emptied it all over the cage (it takes him about 10 minutes, he seems to enjoy it enormously). So that's out again, they can have it back for playtime only! They don't bath in it, M just throws all the sand out of the jar.



I'm quite pleased with it just need to find a permanent solution for the water bottle (will check out what you mentioned babyboos, thanks ) and perhaps upgrade the cork too, depends how it goes.



The boys seem to like it anyway, which is the main point! They went in last night when we got home. Although haven't seen them as much as usual, they're constantly making tunnels!

[SnuggleHam]

sounds like dig heaven for those those guys.. I hope your still going to get pictures soon.

[carefresh]

Looks great Emma ! I can't wait to see the pictures of the finished product !